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Have bike, will travel — to clean teeth

Cindy McQueen, a dental hygienist, has incorporated a bicycle with a trailer in her local practice. McQueen hopes other business owners will adopt a similar business model. (Danielle VandenBrink/The Whig-Standard)

A few days on the streets of Kingston and Cindy McQueen is already attracting attention.

The 53-year-old has recently merged her passion for bicycling with her profession as a mobile dental hygienist. After less than a week on the road with her bicycle and a covered trailer attachment, McQueen said it’s caught on.

“It was selfish,” said McQueen, the founder of Roving Dental Hygiene. “I really missed being on my bike. I really wanted to be out there but I didn’t know how I was going to do it.”

McQueen, who had been operating her mobile business from her vehicle since 2011, began searching for ways to incorporate the use of a bicycle in her dental practice.

She said she found similar models in use in cities such as Montreal and Portland, Ore.

Eventually, she found another small business in Guelph which manufactured lightweight, durable trailers for bicycles.

McQueen has since printed her business information on the dark green canvass covering the trailer.

She said the idea to take her business mobile was based on an apparent gap in the health care system.

“It wasn’t hard to see there was a problem that people needed dental care in long-term care facilities,” she said.

Having worked in a clinic for more than 20 years, McQueen said there was a large segment of the population who did not have regular access to dental care due to mobility concerns.

“So, I came to them bedside,” she said.

In addition to long-term care facilities, McQueen also serves group homes, retirement communities, private homes, social service agencies and public health clinics.

“I see people who don’t want to go in a clinic,” she said. “It’s made a huge difference in their lives. It’s very rewarding.”

One of the most difficult aspects in incorporating her bicycle in her practice was ensuring her equipment could stay dry and sterile, as per strict rules regulating her profession.

In her trailer, McQueen carries a dental chair, an air compressor and a pre-made kit that includes her dental tools.

After just four days using the bicycle, McQueen said she has already received positive feedback from both motorists and other cyclists in Kingston.

“Whenever I’m out people wave and honk,” she said. “I actually have to come off the main roads and pick alternate routes.”

In the future, she hopes to incorporate the use of the bicycle for at for at least half of her appointments.

McQueen said she hopes to inspire other business owners to consider adopting a similar model to reduce operating and transportation costs, reduce traffic congestion and reduce carbon emissions in the community.